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So I am running in the Townsville half marathon this coming Sunday and I was fine until my friend told me that only 220 competed in last year’s race…..I found myself rushing to Google the race, checking the results and panicking that I might be last!

I haven’t had a great week training wise. I didn’t run on Saturday as wasn’t feeling well and so ran on Sunday in Pomona on the Sunshine Coast as I was there to drop off my doggie who is staying with my mother in law for the next couple of weeks. I managed to run 10k before deciding it was a bit too remote (and warm) for me and racing back to the house, and I haven’t run since then.

Normally the week before a race I taper off but this is ridiculous. My husband decided that I shouldn’t run yesterday and today as I have been exhausted with work and college (studying a graphic design course two nights a week) and my achilles is not the best. Then tomorrow I just realised I have an early morning meeting and am out at night – so Thursday is the last option!

So all afternoon I have been thinking..’what if I am last!’, ‘what will I say to people’, ‘how humiliating’.

I think I just need to get over it!!

I am reminded of the Olympic Games creator Baron Pierre de Coubertin’s famous quote about ‘it not being about the winning, but the taking part’ he then goes on to say ‘the essential thing in life is not about conquering but fighting well.’ Awesome quote and very true but I still have that niggling feeling in my stomach like I always do before a race….

I think though what Baron Pierre said is so right and we should learn from it.

We concentrate so much on pushing ourselves and not being happy with our time that we forget why we are doing something to begin with – we run, because:

we love it,

we’re passionate about it

and regardless of what we think; we are good at it.

In fact 33% of you that completed the poll on this site asking why you run said it was because you enjoy it – so my thought for myself and anyone else feeling the same way tonight is remember why you do it, appreciate it and enjoy it.